Letter Ę , ĘĘ
Letter ę, called "e nasal", is pronounced like plain or "oral" e except that air moves out the nose as well as the mouth. In writing Tanacross, ę and ęę have the same sound, but ęę is pronounced for a longer time than ę.Click on a video below to see and hear Mrs. Irene Arnold pronouncing words with Ę , ĘĘ.
tsín'ęę thank you
k'ę́y' willow
xunłęę there is
shí' geyh dry meat
eetęę she or he is sleeping
dzéex tl'ę̌y' soft spruce pitch
All Tanacross vowels except o may occur nasalized, that is, with air flowing through the nose as well as the mouth. A nasalized vowel is pronounced in exactly the same manner as the corresponding plain (oral) vowel, except that air is allowed to flow through the nose as well. Nasalization is indicated with a small hook written under the vowel. The difference between plain and nasalized vowels is important to the meaning of Tanacross words. For example, consider the contrast between delgeyh 'white' and delgęyh 'dry'.
similar sounds